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Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $17.64 $19.60
12 bottles: $15.83
A clean, simple Gavi with sliced apples and hints of stones and white almonds. Crisp, dry and light on the palate...
WE
88
JS
88
White
750ml
Bottle: $20.88
12 bottles: $20.46
Pale straw yellow in colour, clear and bright, with greenish tinges. Fresh and floral nose, good intensity and...
Spirits
700ml
Bottle: $56.80
6 bottles: $56.00
The result of over two centuries of expertise and tradition in the art of distillation. This white grappa, called...
12 FREE
Spirits
700ml
Bottle: $36.79
6 bottles: $36.00
The nose is fragrant, delicate and harmonious. On the palate, this grappa is intense and complex, but with a smooth...
12 FREE
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $82.39
4 bottles: $81.60
Complex profile with multiple nuances attributable to spicy and fruity notes with hints of vanilla, morello cherry...
12 FREE
Spirits
700ml
Bottle: $40.08
6 bottles: $31.60
Bold and bright on the nose, hints of fresh fennel and black licorice dominate the nose, with slight touches of Meyer...
12 FREE
UBC
90
Case only
Spirits
700ml - Case of 4
Bottle: $82.50
Sweet oak and cereal on the nose. Enjoyably elegant on the palate, with rich nutty and floral notes. Richly textured...
12 FREE
White
750ml
Bottle: $32.72
6 bottles: $32.07
COLOR: Pale straw yellow with green reflections. NOSE: Rich and intense bouquet on the nose, with complex fragrances...
12 FREE
White
750ml
Bottle: $18.72
6 bottles: $18.35
Lemons, sliced apples, wet stones and apricots on the nose. Creamy, medium-bodied and fresh, with deliciously clear...
JS
91
DC
90
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $13.90 $15.08
12 bottles: $13.59
A complexity of honeydew melon, apple, pear and acacia with a salty mineral crunch, racy acidity and an almond...
DC
91
White
750ml
Bottle: $63.12
3 bottles: $62.40
12 FREE
Sale
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $31.92 $33.60
12 bottles: $28.50
Sale
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $22.80 $24.00
12 bottles: $19.38
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $26.40
12 bottles: $22.80
Aged in oak for 12 months, this golden grappa edges close to aged brandy territory—although one sip and that grappa...
WE
89
Case only
White
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $18.80
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $18.93 $20.40
12 bottles: $18.55
100% Cortese from Ulivi's estate vines in and around Gavi. As always, the fruit was destemmed and spontaneously...
White
750ml
Bottle: $12.41
12 bottles: $12.16
COLOR: Pale yellow with green reflections. NOSE: Fresh nose with grapefruit notes and underlying minerality. FLAVOR:...
White
750ml
Bottle: $15.65
12 bottles: $15.34
Light and clear with a heavenly bouquet reminiscent of almond trees in blossom. Dry and harmonious with a final...
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $16.94 $18.80
The Cortese grape always makes for etched and sharp white wines with a strong salty mineral component. That's exactly...
WA
88
WS
88
Spirits
12 FREE

Cortese Grappa Italy

The Cortese white wine grape varietal has been grown in and around south Piedmont, Italy, for at least five hundred years. Its delicate nature and moderate acidity have made it a favorite with people around the world, and it is most commonly served alongside the excellent seafood and shellfish dishes of the part of Italy it is traditionally grown in. Cortese grapes are easily identifiable by their lime and greengage flavors, and their generally delicate and medium bodied character. Cortese wines are also notable for their freshness and crispness, again, making them an ideal match for seafood. Whilst colder years often produce harsher, more acidic Cortese wines, practices such as allowing malolactic fermentation can solve any such problems and still produce delicious white wines made from this varietal.

Like so many of the great spirits of Europe, Grappa was born from a need to make resources go that little bit further, to eke out the last drop of flavor and potential from the crops of winemakers. Indeed, Italian vintners invented Grappa as a way to make use of the pomace - leftover grape skins, stems, pulp and seeds - which remained after the juice was extracted from the fruit needed to make wine. Over the centuries, the process was refined, and the distillation of Grappa became an art in itself. Today, top Grappa producers use a range of state of the art equipment, from continuous stills to pot stills, to manufacture a wide variety of Grappas, each with their own distinct characteristics.


Most of us know Grappa from our local Italian restaurants, where it is commonly served as a digestif. However, in the twenty first century, there is a high interest in unique, boutique Grappas, which showcase the talent of the distillers through a range of interesting qualities. Grappa can be aged in oak, in which case it takes on a beautiful golden color, quite different from the clear Grappas we are most familiar with. The high end Grappas are a world away from the harsh spirit many of us have encountered, and have a smooth, gentle quality which can be nothing short of a revelation.

There are few countries in the world with a viticultural history as long or as illustrious as that claimed by Italy. Grapes were first being grown and cultivated on Italian soil several thousand years ago by the Greeks and the Pheonicians, who named Italy 'Oenotria' – the land of wines – so impressed were they with the climate and the suitability of the soil for wine production. Of course, it was the rise of the Roman Empire which had the most lasting influence on wine production in Italy, and their influence can still be felt today, as much of the riches of the empire came about through their enthusiasm for producing wines and exporting it to neighbouring countries. Since those times, a vast amount of Italian land has remained primarily for vine cultivation, and thousands of wineries can be found throughout the entire length and breadth of this beautiful country, drenched in Mediterranean sunshine and benefiting from the excellent fertile soils found there. Italy remains very much a 'land of wines', and one could not imagine this country, its landscape and culture, without it.